Implants may be placed in the human body for a variety of reasons. For example, stents are placed in a number of different body lumens such as blood vessels and biliary ducts; vena cava filters are implanted in the vena cava to catch thrombus sloughed off from other sites within the body; and vaso-occlusive devices are used for the treatment of intravascular aneurysms.
Interventional practitioners, regardless of subspecialty have always had to demonstrate profound dexterity in order to effectively and accurately perform invasive procedures. This is particularly the case with the delivery and deployment of implantable devices where there is very little room for error with respect to placement. In order to assist with placement accuracy, many interventionalists utilize scopes, such as bronchoscopes or endoscopes, ultrasound, ct scanning, or other imaging modalities. However, handling the imaging modality and the delivery catheter can often be a clumsy process when the two devices easily disassociate from each other. Moreover, since many delivery catheters, for one reason or another, cannot be adequately managed with one hand, additional personnel are required when handling the scope and the delivery catheter.
Therefore, there is an existing need for a delivery system that allows a physician to deploy an implantable device with one hand.